Service Project - Feed My Starving Children

"Feeding God's Starving Children Hungry in Body and Spirit" Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a Christian organization that has been around since 1987, their goal is to provide meals to malnourished children, the meals are hand-packed by volunteers, the meals are then shipped to orphanages, schools, etc. all around the world to feed children. FMSC has serviced nearly 70 countries around the world. At FMSC, 92% of donations are spent directly on the food. Also because of how dangerous some countries are, it is shocking yet amazing that FMSC can say that approximately 99.6% of the packaged food arrives at the intended location. An individual meal costs 22 cents (FMSC 2015).
As I have volunteered through FMSC on multiple occasions, this past experience took place on April 21st, from 12-2. It was located at their Aurora, IL location. The address is: 555 Exchange Ct. Aurora, IL 60504. This time I went with Mary Kleinman, who is in our CWII class. We had planned to go together. Anyone can volunteer their time by going online and signing up, so there was nearly 40-50 people there with us volunteering.
While you are there, the majority of volunteers are used to hand-pack the meals. In groups of 6 or more you get all of the individual ingredients into the bag, where it then goes to the sealer to make sure the bag is the correct weight and gets properly sealed. It functions in an assembly line format. Because you are in those groups for nearly 2 hours, you get to talk to everyone there and get to know them. They also play music to help lighten the mood so everyone has a good time. Me and Mary were talking and laughing the whole time, and getting to know the other students who were there doing community service.
The other students that we were talking to were talking the most. We started off just by saying hello, then started learning more about each other and what schools we went to and just proceeded the whole two hours conducting small talk. At the end of the two hours, you clean up your station and head home.
I learned that for just two hours we packed 100 boxes, which is enough food for hundreds of starving children. It was truly eye opening to know that in that little amount of time you could impact someone's life so positively. I really enjoy going to FMSC, every time I have gone I have had a positive enlightening experience. I would recommend FMSC to anyone who wants to do community service. Everything is simple and quick, you sign up online, show up, SAVE LIVES, then continue on with your day. HIGHLY RECOMMEND(:


"About FMSC | Fmsc.org." About FMSC | Fmsc.org. 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.fmsc.org/about>.

Paraphrasing X 3

Source 1: Manfred, Liebsch. "Alternatives to animal testing: Current status and Future Perspectives." Quote: "Testing for medical products, substances, or devices made the largest part in this category with 51%, whereas animal use for the evaluation of products or substances used mainly as animal feed, foods, cosmetics, and household items amount for only 4.3%. Chemicals and pesticides account for 19% of toxicological and safety testing in animals."
Paraphrase 1: Of the data collected, it was shown that over fifty percent of the animals used for testing were used for medical purposes.
Paraphrase 2: Shown in the data from the research was that, the amount of animals used for cosmetic purposes is relatively low compared to the number of animals used for medical testing purposes.
Paraphrase 3: Of the information collected, it was shown that the majority of animal testing is done for medical testing purposes, while a slim number of animals are used for cosmetic purposes.

Source 2: Saraf, Shyam. "Basic research: Issues with animal experimentations"
Quote: "By law, any new drug has to pass through a series of toxicological analysis in animals before being introduced to clinical research and usage. The results from animal studies can be extrapolated to human since the internal milieu of humans are similar to animals."
Paraphrase 1: All new drugs being introduced are subject to animal experimentation before human lives can ingest the drug.
Paraphrase 2: Because all newly introduced drugs must be tested on animals prior to human experimentation, animals with similar anatomy as humans are used.
Paraphrase 3: Legally, all new drugs are subject to animal experimentation before being tested on humans, animals with similar anatomy as humans are picked for the experiment.

Connection: Shyam Saraf who works for the department of orthopeadics at the Institute of Medical Sciences, explained that because all newly introduced drugs need to be tested on animals prior to being tested on humans, animals are chosen specifically because they share similar anatomy as humans. Although Saraf currently resides in India, drugs are being introduced all around the globe everyday and that means that animals are being tested frequently for medical purposes. In Europe, Manfred Liebsch, who works for the Center for Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments(ZEBET), found that of all animals tested in Europe for the year, over fifty percent of the animals tested were tested for medical purposes, which is consistent with Saraf's research because she stated that every time that a drug is introduced, it must first be legally tested on animals with similar anatomy to humans.

Source Communication

Source A: “Animal testing alternatives come alive in the US.” Dolgin, Ellie. ·         Source A shares similar views as the source: “Alternatives to Animal Testing: Current Status and Future Perspectives”… Both Dolgin and Liebschs’ articles are about how alternatives to animal testing are growing in popularity in the United States, and specifically Liebsch’s article is about alternatives in the Netherlands. ·         Source A disputes the claims made by Dinesh Badyal whose article is about the necessity of animal testing, and the learning that gets done at universities and labs, testing that cannot be done by in vitro methods. Also Shayam Saraf’s article is about the benefits of animal testing but also parallels her research with an ethical standpoint that is most often taken. ·
Source B: “Alternatives to Animal Testing: Current Status and Future Perspectives” Liebsch, Manfred ·         This source is about alternatives to animal testing and lists different ways that testing can be done without using animals.	Source C: “Painful Dilemmas: A Study of the way the public’s assessment of animal research balances costs to animals against human benefits.” Lund, Thomas ·         This source is primarily about the public view on animal testing. It does not offer any insight on to the ethics or necessity of animal testing, just the public’s view on whether or not it should be allowed based on varying scenarios.
Source D: “Basic research: Issues with animal experimentations.” Saraf, Shayam. ·         This source is about how beneficial animal testing can be, but it also includes an ethical standpoint on how the animals should be treated during experimentation.	Source E: “Animal use in pharmacology education and research: The changing scenario” Badyal, Dinesh. ·         This source is about the pharmaceutical view on animal testing, and why they should now be using the technological alternatives.

Annotated Bibliography

Dolgin, Ellie. “Animal testing alternatives come alive in the US.” Nature Medicine 16.12(2010): 1348. Web. 26 March. 2015.

Ellie Dolgin is writing this article to express how the United States has taken a recent interest in finding new and better ways to do research, without the use of animals. Her article is about the use of “in vitro” methods to replace the use of animals. “in vitro” is using a lab dish instead of using a full live animal to run the test. Her article also displays who has become interested in pursuing a future where animals no longer have to be in pain and suffer for the wellbeing of research. One issue that could arise from this article is that it is on the short side, but does have a lot of information crammed into a few paragraphs. From this article I would take who in the United States is becoming increasingly interested in removing animals from the research labs.

Liebsch, Manfred. "Alternatives to Animal Testing: Current Status and Future Perspectives."Archives of Toxicology 85.8 (2011): 841-58. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

Manfred Liebsch and his team have been working together since 2011. They have been published in many journals, including the Archives of Toxicology. Liebsch writes about ZEBET, which is an organization established to come to alternatives to animal testing, and regulate whom is capable of allowing such testing. This source has information about a multitude of different alternatives that many pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies can use in order to ensure the health of animals. The source also speaks on the issue of which animals are most often used for the testing, complete with charts and graphs to illustrate the amount of animals that are affected. The statistical information found in this scholarly journal is going to be beneficial to my research paper because it puts numbers to how many animals are used and for what purposes. The only obstacle with this article is that it is foreign and comes from the Netherlands.

Lund, Thomas. “Painful dilemmas: A study of the way the public’s assessment of animal research balances costs to animals against human benefits.” Public Understanding of Science 23.4(2012): 428-444. Web. 26 March. 2015.

Thomas Lund’s article is about the views that the public has on animal research. Throughout his article he surveyed many individuals who stated whether or not they approved of the research being done. His article has very interesting findings, showing how much the public approves of animal testing, only when it comes to certain issues. On some issues the public stood behind more confidently, for example, cancer research, but when it came to testing the animals for cosmetic purposes, the public had a very disapproving opinion. Because this article was published in Denmark, it is possible that their public opinion may differ from here in the United States. Thomas Lund does not belong to any group or organization which could have skewed his data. This scholarly article is going to benefit my paper in the fact that it the public does have some support when it comes to improving their lives, but respects animals when it does not pertain to their overall health.

Saraf, Shayam. "Basic research: Issues with animal experimentations." Indian Journal of Orthopaedics 47.1(2013): 6-9. Web. 22 March. 2015.

Shayam Saraf is a professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences, and works specifically with the orthopedics department. Her article is about the necessity for animal testing and all the benefits that it provides. She lists many different companies and organizations that monitor the safety of the animals during the experiments and parallels her research with the ethical standpoint that many take. This source is going to be very beneficial in the fact that it contains a different viewpoint than many other sources whom oppose the use of animals for research purposes. This article gives rise to all the benefits that come from animal testing and why it needs to remain available to improve the lives of both humans and animals alike.

Badyal, Dinesh. “Animal use in pharmacology education and research: The changing scenario.” Indian Journal of Pharmacology 46.3(2014): 257-265. Web. 26 March. 2015.

Dinesh Badyal’s scholarly article is about the use of animals in the pharmaceutical industry. He explains that animals do not need to be placed under certain conditions for pointless research projects. He does incorporate information in his article about what the pharmaceutical company feels about having the animals to use for research. This article may pose some issues because it is from the Indian Journal and not an American view, but it does contain some very important information about the treatment and alternatives that can be done to remove the use of animals. Dinesh explains that there is technology that can now be used replacing the traditional animal testing methods. This article will benefit my research paper in the fact that it lists alternatives that can be used, but also lists the viewpoints that the companies explain is the reason they need the real animals to experiment with.

Project Proposal

Thesis: Throughout the entire world, research and testing is being done on millions of animals. Although many oppose the practice of animal testing, it is beneficial to finding cures and treatments for a multitude of diseases, new laws and regulations have been instated to ensure the safety of the animals, and lastly the testing is helping to save the lives of many animals and humans alike.

For my research paper I plan to write about the benefits that arise from animal testing, but also list the side effects that come along with the research. I have found sources that illustrate the benefits to animal testing, and have also found sources that are going to counter those ideas and list alternatives that can be used when animal testing is not entirely necessary. Also a source of mine explains how some organizations have teamed up to monitor and ensure the lively hood of the animals. I want to incorporate every angle that someone can take on this issue and make sure that I address all the concerns that someone may have, and make sure to reiterate the benefits that come from the testing.

Three questions to explore:

·         What are the benefits of animal testing, and how do the benefits match up with the torture the animals must endure?

·         Public support on animal testing and does it depend on what the research is for, for example, cancer research vs. cosmetic?

·         When can alternatives be used instead of harming animals for unnecessary research that can be done without the use of animals?